


The Other Man

by buttcushions



Category: Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, F/M, M/M, eventual thorki
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-17
Updated: 2015-01-18
Packaged: 2018-02-25 17:22:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 11,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2630030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buttcushions/pseuds/buttcushions
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pardon my glaring lack of talent in regards to summaries. I try, I really do. Anyhow, shit starts off with boyfriend and girlfriend, Thor and Jane getting read to head to a benefit in the science community and per Jane's request. Distracted with other duties, Jane leaves Thor to his own devices for most of the night, during which he meets the rich investor, Loki. Gay things shall happen later, though for now, wait with bated breaths, lil weenies.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Admittedly, I wanted to wait until I was done writing all of this to post anything, but I found that I was too excited to wait. So far, this is the longest thing that I've written, but that isn't really saying much. This first chapter has absolutely no Loki in it at all, but you'll meet him in the next update. I plan to update once a week so that I have enough time to kind of squirrel up a surplus of chapters so that I'll never leave you dandy shits waiting. I'll try my hardest to finish this puppy because I would really, really love to.
> 
> The chapters are very short, and I feel easy to get through. No complicated fancy writing-- I'm not that good yet.
> 
> Oh, shout out to user kissartbutts for betaing this, as well as my dearest Sophia. Maia, I know that you're pretty into this, and I couldn't ask for any more support, honestly.
> 
> Anyhow, do enjoy my gay filth.

Clinking sounds of glass and porcelain skipped frantically from the bathroom as Thor stood in front of the bedroom mirror, adjusting his bow tie around his neck. It stood thin and black over his crisp, white button-down. He looked sharp. Using his better judgment, he secured his hair in a small loose bun.

Jane called from the bathroom, “Hey, Thor. Have you seen my Lorac Pro anywhere?” Thor’s brows furrowed, obviously confused. Jane seemed to sense this despite being in a different room. She sighed and told him, “It’s my big makeup palette.”

 “Uh,” Thor mumbled as he went to rummage half-assedly through Jane’s various beauty products that had found their way back into her childhood room. Over the past seven months, they had made a new residence in his own apartment but were brought back to her parent’s house as it was closer to the gala. She huffed as she stormed out of the bathroom, finding the palette with ease and yanking it from her luggage. Thor snorted a laugh. “Damn, Jane.”

 She held a hand to her forehead, the other resting on her hip. “Sorry, sorry,” she relented, “I just need to look perfect for this event, Thor. There are going to be a lot of important people there that need to think that I’m important so that maybe they’ll consider my findings to be worth their time.”

Jane had been stressing about the gala since last month. Technically, her works in astrophysics nor anyone else’s were supposed to be a focal point of the night. It was a benefit for some dead scientist’s charity fund that made _very significant contributions_ to the scientific community; contributions that Thor had no idea about. Jane had said that if the rich attendees liked her, they'd be more likely to fund her studies to further her project. It was something about wormholes, if Thor was correct. Everything else was lost on him. All he was filled in on was that _yes_ , he had to go and that _yes_ , he had to wear a tuxedo.

Jane looked lovely despite not yet having put on of whatever was in her “Lorac Pro.” She had put her hair up into a curled up-do that complemented the smart angles of her face. It was a rare event indeed that she dressed up, though she looked beautiful nonetheless in her long, strapless evening gown.

Thor shook his head with a smile. “You look stunning,” he assured her as he wrapped his arms around here, rocking his weight back and forth on his feet. “Enjoy yourself tonight, you haven’t stopped talking about this damned thing all damned month. Impressing the rich people should be secondary, okay?”

She laughed quietly in his embrace. “Thanks,” she muttered before adding, “I think you’re ruining my hair.”

Hands held up, Thor relinquished his grip, “Sorry.” He looked her over once more. “Hey, finish up your _lady_ _things_ ,” he said, wiggling his fingers teasingly. “It would suck if we were late, okay?”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey! We get to meet Loki! Oh what fun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part B of the first installment of whatever the fuck this is

Jane didn’t lie when she said that the elite would be in attendance. Thor and Jane weren’t by any means poor, yet he still felt wildly out of place. The idea of making painful small talk about fiscal crises and vacations in the Hamptons for the entirety of the cocktail hour as well as dinner seemed fucking horrible. He needed to get _super fucking_ drunk to survive this night. Well, maybe just respectably drunk. Jane would murder him if he ruined her career and frankly, he wouldn’t be too pleased with himself either.

Nevertheless, after Jane separated from him to speak with her lab team after introducing him to the deemed _more notable_ attendees, he “accidentally” made his way to the open bar, asking for a Johnnie Walker on the rocks. He took a sip, surveying the event. The lights were dimmed and the DJ played some mix that nobody in the room was really listening to. Instead, the guests opted to talk amongst each other in a way that was a step below bragging. Probably about their yachts, the hadron collider, or how much money they had donated to some charity that _truly inspired them to be better people_. Thor almost gulped the remainder of his drink before remembering that he was among delicate company.

It seemed everyone at the bar was deep in conversation, save one other man that had just strode over. His hair was smoothed against his head, parted neatly on the side. Thor had never seen natural hair that black on any man, especially on a man so strikingly pale. He was almost as tall as Thor was, a feat almost in of itself, though he was much leaner. His height, as well as his proud posture suggested that he might be a model. Thor was almost lonely enough and desperate enough to strike up a conversation with the man. Almost, but not quite.

Thor had been notably outgoing since forever, though. That and his easy confidence had helped his popularity in high school. He had met Jane at a party their senior year and had parted ways almost unremarkably until they met again during college. They began dating their junior year and they lived together in Thor’s apartment in the city while Jane worked through grad school. She was very young for her profession, though she was brilliant. It was easy for Thor to feel bumbling and stupid next to her, but he would joke that, conversely, she always seemed short and tiny in compared to him.

Thor was pulled from his reverie by a smooth voice calling him, which hardly broke its way above the hum of the crowd and the light throb of the bass from the neglected DJ. He blinked, eyes searching around only to find that it was the man from before that was looking at him.

The man repeated, “Hello.”

“Oh, hey, sorry,” Thor said, extending his hand. “I’m Thor.”

“Loki,” the man said in return, shaking his hand firmly, pumping once, twice. He sipped at his drink before saying, “What brings you here? Do pardon me, but you seem, ah, lost.”

Thor shrugged, raising his brow in defeat, almost. “It’s fine,” he assured the man, no, _Loki_ , “I’m definitely out of place here. I thought the bowtie was a good enough disguise.”

“Oh, you look the part,” Loki assured him with a soft laugh. “Standing alone and inhaling scotch gave you away, I’m afraid.” Thor noted subtly that he had an English accent. Regionally speaking, he was clueless where it was from. He didn’t sound like a Beatle, so not Liverpool. He sounded like he would fit in with the royal family, if that counted for anything. The man paused, “So are you one of the scientists or one off the blue bloods?” he asked easily.

“Neither,” Thor supplied, “I’m apparently an outsider who does a bad job with blending in.”

Loki leaned towards him with mild concern, “I was only joking before, I didn’t mean to offend—“

Thor laughed, “No, no, I know,” he smiled, “Just a joke.” Loki relaxed visibly. “It wasn’t totally a lie, though. I’m only a guest, if anything. Which category do you fall in, then?”

“I hardly think that’s important,” Loki said coolly, smirking. “Would you like a drink? It seems you need another.” He gestured to Thor’s glass that was emptied, only some hardly-melted ice cubes and a faint trace of liquor left behind.

Thor whistled low. “Is it that obvious that I’m dying to get drunk?” He paused and added, “Because I am.”

“Lucky guess, perhaps,” Loki said as he waved down the bartender, quickly requesting another drink. Thor watched offhandedly as Loki stroked the condensation on his glass into a curved smear with his thumb. “Tell me about yourself.”

“Well,” Thor began, searching for words, “My name is Thor.” Loki snorted. “I-uh, I actually own a barbershop,” he said after a while, before grinning. “Not trying to brag, but we offer the best shave in New York City. I always wanted to be an artist, though. Not sure how I got into the business of cutting off people’s hair.”

Loki looked at him oddly, as if he was imagining Thor at work, bumbling hands working away at some poor man’s cheeks with a huge knife. “I did not expect that,” he admitted, “Certainly not a bad thing. Perhaps I could pay you a visit.”

“What do you do, then?” Thor asked after a sip of his drink. “Secret assassin? Acrobat? Architect?”

“Investor,” Loki said through a thin smile. He dismissed the statement with an almost shameful wave of his hand, “By my father’s demands. Thus my presence here.”

Thor cocked a brow. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

“It is when you wish to be an actor,” he explained in response. “You understand.”

“Yeah, I do,” Thor said with a sympathetic smile.  From the corner of his eye, he saw Jane approaching with her herd of friends.

Jane waved at him, coming over to greet Thor with a quick kiss on the cheek.

“Oh, Loki, I would like you to meet my ticket into this event in the first place. This is my girlfriend, Jane Foster,” Thor said, leading Jane over by her hand, “She falls under the scientist category.”

He smiled tightly. “Loki Laufeyson,” he said, extending his hand, “Pleased to meet you.”

“Oh my god,” Jane said in disbelief as she shook his hand, looking briefly to Thor and then back to Loki,  “It’s an honor to meet you, Mr. Laufeyson, it really is.”

Thor glanced at Jane with confusion, studying Loki quickly before settling his gaze back on Jane. He remembered then the tag at the end of all of Jane’s emails:

_Jane Foster_

_Astrophysicist, BA_

_Laufeyson Laboratories_

_528 Industrial Way, Poughkeepsie NY_

“Investor,” Thor recalled silently. _Oh._

Loki laughed softly, “Please, Loki works just as well.” He leaned nonchalantly against the bar. “The honor is mine, Ms. Foster. I have heard quite a bit about your studies. Good things are happening at the lab then, I hope.”

“Definitely,” she agreed, nodding her head emphatically. Thor snorted under his breath.  “Sorry about rushing in here and just rushing out, but I just wanted to let you know that I ran into some friends from grad school and we’re planning on catching up tonight.”

Thor nodded, “Sure, that’s fine. Should I wait up?”

She cocked her head awkwardly, “Not exactly. I think I’m just going to crash at her place,” she explained hurriedly. “Sorry, Thor. I just haven’t seen her in _forever_.”

“Don’t worry about it, Jane. It’s fine, really,” Thor said, laughing at her mild and definitely uncalled-for distress.

She relaxed visibly. Someone from within her girl-herd called to her and she held up her index finger; _one second_. “Hey, gotta go,” she said quickly, kissing Thor again, “Have fun, and really, such an honor to meet you, Mr. Laufeyson.”

After she ran off, Thor paused, pressing his lips out. He offered Loki an apologetic look. “She likes coffee.”

Loki sent him a puzzled look before laughing deeply, “Quite alright, quite alright.”

He looked down to his glass. “However, it’s absolutely _not_ alright that I don’t have anything to drink. You know, I’ve been craving a martini,” he said.

“Ask for it shaken, not stirred,” Thor suggested, wiggling his brows.

“I would sound like _such a tit._ ”

“It’s better than being boring.”

Loki scoffed with feigned offense, “I have nothing to prove to you, Thor.” He turned around icily and called the bartender over. “Excuse me,” he said, “could I have a martini rosso?”

“Loser,” Thor mouthed over to him.

Loki gave Thor a devilish smile. “Shaken, not stirred.” He kept a straight face until the bartender was out of earshot, and then he started laughing. Like a maniac. For a man so composed, Thor wouldn’t have expected him to have such an odd laugh, the sound high in his throat, tongue peeking out past his teeth. Thor had to join him, perhaps not for the humor of the event itself, just because of the odd surprise in it all.

“I take that back, then,” Thor said breathlessly, “you aren’t a loser. You’re a _big fucking loser_.”

“Actually,” he said as he took his martini from the bartender. He took a sip. “I’m the _biggest fucking loser.”_ Thor stared at him incredulously, watching as his straight-faced façade slipped off of him awkwardly, and Loki was laughing again. “This stays between us both, I have an image to maintain.”

Thor rolled his eyes mockingly, “Ah, yes, with all of your martinis and _investments_.”

“Don’t push it, Sweeney Todd,” Loki said as he brandished the small plastic rod that skewered his drink’s olive.

Thor narrowed his eyes at him with a crooked smile. Loki’s cheeks were slightly flushed from laughing and Thor thought to himself how much of a shame it was that he wasn’t an actor. It seemed almost like some divine injustice that the rest of the world would never see his face.

Loki leaned forward, aiming his skewer at Thor in warning when a man that standing behind him pitched back with a sneeze, knocking him forward. “Shit,” he hissed as he toppled onto Thor’s chest. He looked to his martini glass that had emptied itself all over his own shirt as well as Thor’s. “Double shit.”

“It’s fine,” Thor said as he pinched the wet fabric, peeling it off of his skin. He hissed out a breath between his teeth, “We can clean this up in the bathroom.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Expect another update some time next Sunday (11/22 I believe). If you caught any errors or felt that something wasn't explained well, let me know and I'll be more than happy to make a change so that it's more understandable for other readers.
> 
> Kudos and comments are always appreciated but never required


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thor and Loki clean up their spills, basically.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I have worked on _nothing_ over this week, but worry not, I do have a few chapters that are written and only require some editing. Never mind that, I hope you all are enjoying things thus far. As always, muchas gracias to kissartbutts, Sophia, Alyssa, and Maia.
> 
> And if anyone is unclear about how something's written, or if there's a typo, let me know if you're so willing and I would be more than happy to fix whatever my fuck-up may have been. 
> 
> Enjoy the gay filth

The crowd was mostly stationary as Thor and Loki wove through it. The wealthy mingled with the scientists, forming a large, jittering mass.

“I hate these things,” Loki said as they passed through the doors into the hallway, “They’re so impossibly stuffy.” They turned left, footsteps almost inaudible pats on the patterned carpet.

Thor sighed, “They always make me feel stupid,” he paused, pushing through the door to the _Gentlemen’s Room_ , “and poor,” he added.

“Pish,” Loki said as he grabbed some paper napkins from the sink counter. “I feel just as out of place.”

Thor grabbed a napkin for himself. They were surprisingly plush and he subtly noted that they were the sort his aunt would always steal from fancy restaurants. He scoffed, “The fact you just said _pish_ sort of convinces me otherwise.” He dabbed at his shirt, sighing angrily as he found that the angle was too awkward to work the stain out.

“You could take your shirt off,” Loki suggested distractedly as he noticed his struggle. He paused, hurriedly adding, “If you have an undershirt on, of course.” He looked away quickly, busying himself with rubbing away the wet mark on his shirt until the paper in his hand began to break down and pill.

“Damn, I’m not,” Thor said, looking to Loki questioningly. “If you don’t care, I don’t care,” he offered. Loki shook his head _go ahead_. Thor took to unbuttoning the top of his shirt before tugging it up over his head. It mussed his hair out of his bun in the process, “Damn, I liked this shirt.”

Loki looked over, inspecting the label. Jos A. Bank. It wasn’t wildly expensive, certainly not as much as his own, though it had fit Thor well. Its crisp lines fell well over his broad shoulders, pulled taut when he moved. He found that Thor was even more impressive in only his bare skin. He brushed off the notion, not before quickly tracing the hardly-visible tan lines that traversed Thor’s arms and chest.

Thor looked up confused, “If you hate all of this so much,” he said gesturing around the bathroom, “Why do you even bother with it? I’d assume you be well off enough to do whatever you’d like, if you don’t mind me saying so.”

Laughing coldly almost, Loki looked up. “I wish,” he said wistfully, “but.” He unbuttoned his shirt, working at the stain with an angry fervor. “It’s hard to pursue a career when it’s filled with _fags_. At least that’s what my father had said.” He smiled grimly.

“That’s hardly tr-” Thor had began, though Loki cut him off.

“Not entirely. Nevertheless, here I am.” He sighed.

“I mean, I touch guys’ faces for a living,” Thor said.

Loki laughed, bringing a damp hand to his forehead, “Pardon that, please. I don’t speak like this often.” Mood seemed to be shaken, he looked up to Thor with a teasing smile, “I guess you’re just easy to talk to.”

Thor bowed playfully, “And I don’t mind listening.”

Loki huffed a laugh, but it was more gentle, more reserved than before. He inhaled sharply and tried to hide it with nonchalance. He convinced himself later that he succeeded. “Well, I think we should head back. The stains aren’t as noticeable, we could hide them with our jackets.”

“Oh but it’s so hot,” Thor whined.

“Sorry, I’ll leave,” Loki said grinning and began walking towards the door.

Thor tilted his chin up at Loki teasingly, “Do you plan on putting your shirt on or do you want to give everyone a free show?”

Loki looked back and raised a brow, “The first thing I’ve evr learned was that nothing is free.”

 

_________________________

 

They made their way back into the ballroom and despite an hour _definitely having passed_ since the start of cocktail hour, the chatter seemed almost stronger. Thor saw Jane across the room, laughing about with the group of women she was with earlier. He cursed, scrunching up his face as he remembered, “Ah shit.”

“What?” Loki said as he turned around, concerned.

Thor massaged his brow, “Jane’s going to be at her friend’s house so that means I’m going to have to sleep at her parents’ house alone.” He groaned, “It’s not like they’re rude it’s just-”

“Awkward?” Loki supplied. Thor sighed his agreement. “Sleep at my place, then,” Loki concluded easily, “It’s right in the city and there’s a guest bedroom and everything.” It was quick, admittedly to invite someone he had just met into his home, but it seemed natural. As if they had been good friends since childhood.

Thor raised his brows in disbelief, “Really? You’re okay with that?” Loki nodded. “Awesome.”

The two belatedly noticed that the ignored DJ’s music had finally cut out. “Ladies and gentlemen,” a voice said from the now-illuminated stage, “While I do hope that you all are enjoying yourselves, I must ask you now to find your seats.” Thor looked over to the man bathed in the yellow spotlight. He was old and greyed, probably the CEO of the foundation or something important like that. “Dinner will be served,” the man continued. He chuckled, “And eat well and get ready to finish the night with some dancing, provided to us by our wonderful DJ, Clint Barton.” The DJ lifted his hand up in subtle thanks. _Finally some recognition_ , Thor mused.

“Well,” Loki said awkwardly, “I believe there is assigned seating.”

Thor groaned. He wasn’t too fond of the idea of losing his only companion for the night. Jane would be busy talking to other people. “Damn, I guess I’m going to have to introduce myself and make small talk.”

“Is this small talk?” Loki asked.

Thor considered it for a moment. “Nah, you’re alright.” Loki bowed. “Catch you later?” It came out almost as a statement. _Yes, this wont be goodbye._

Loki smiled, as if ready to offer a challenge, “Of course, though I warn you: bring your best dance moves, _Thor_ because after dinner, _it’s_ _on_.”

“Loser,” Thor mouthed once more, and he waved goodbye as he walked over to Jane’s table.

 

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dinna time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOLY SHIT I ALMOST FORGOT TO POST. Less than 20 minutes left in the day, oopsie daisies. You must pardon me, I was writing and essay for English and admittedly I was still in Thanksgiving Break-mode. Nonetheless, this sonofabitch is up and running. 
> 
> s/o to my gal pals, maia, sophia, lyssy lyss and kissartbutts yoyoyo
> 
> Enjoy enjoy!

At the table, Jane was the only one seated amongst her friends and Thor watched as she peeked at her phone for the time. “Hey, stranger,” he said as he sat down next to her.

“Shit!” she said, jumping in surprise. She laughed and hit Thor’s arm, “You know I scare easy.”

Thor unfolded his napkin, placing it in his lap. “That’s exactly why I did it.” He allowed the small banter to lull as he took a sip from his water. The ice had all melted and he wondered why the catering company thought to fill the glasses so early then. “So how is everything going with the rich people and all?” he asked.

Jane snorted lightly, “Pretty well, I’d say. Oh, and I’m sorry for kind of abandoning you tonight,” she said, rubbing the back of her neck, “I forgot all of my friends were going to be here. I mean, they said they couldn’t make it, but they’re here, so obviously _they could_ make it. I don’t know, I’m just glad that they’re here. You’ve been hanging on alright?”

“Remember to breathe every here and there,” Thor said with a laugh, “but no, I’ve been fine. What’s the deal with that Loki guy, anyway?”

“Oh yeah, how is he?” Jane said before continuing on, not waiting for a response, “His dad was a super rich investor and he made Loki follow in his footsteps. He’s brilliant, but he’s never really enjoyed the entire business of it all.”

Thor nodded, “Yeah, he said he wanted to be an actor. I could see it.”

“Honestly, I could see him being a model,” Jane sighed, “I mean, you’re cute, but he’s cute too.”

“I’m cuter, though, right?” Thor asked as he nudged Jane with his shoulder.

Jane rolled her eyes, “The cutest.”

Thor looked over to Loki. He was seated a few tables over amongst the men and women that Thor had noted seemed a bit more pompous and a bit more like they had sticks shoved up their asses. Loki was sipping at a new martini, this one plain. Thor watched as Loki seemed to be delivering a joke, the entire table laughing in response when he was done. He was elegant, sitting about and charming those around him. Thor wondered if any of them had heard his wild laugh and dumb jokes. He silently hoped that they hadn’t, that he himself had a small privilege of seeing Loki as something less than perfect. He looked down briefly after he realized that he was staring.

There were small cards at every place setting that listed the options for dinner.

 

_ Prime rib  
_ _with rosemary scented fingerling potatoes_

_ Coq a vin  
_ _over a crispy rice cake_

_ Pork Tenderloin  
_ _with a fig demi-glace_

_ Miso crusted salmon  
_ _with a crisp snow-pea salad_

_ Eggplant gratin  
_ _with a saffron custard mousse_

 

Thor stared at the card wondering what all the terms meant. He was pretty sure one thing was pronounced like “cock,” so he avoided it entirely since ordering it would be too awkward for any reward of _winey chicken stew_. “Jane, what are you getting?”

“Probably the salmon. Let me guess, you’re getting the prime rib,” she said as she continued studying the menu.

Thor contemplated the idea. “I am now.” He looked down and hummed, “Yeah, that seems good.”

___________________

 

Thor picked at the mushrooms in his salad, though his eyes kept wandering back to Loki. Loki with his drying shirt, with his new martini. He looked wealthy, it was easy to tell. He had that sort of sophisticated refinement to him, an air to him that was almost arrogant. Thor subconsciously decided that he didn’t like this part of him. It incited a want in him to see the other side of Loki, the sort that was an actor that mimicked James Bond.

Jane reached over and touched her hand to his forearm. The contact shocked him momentarily. “So are you excited to dance,” she asked with a wry smile.

“I’m excited to eat,” Thor offered instead.

Jane gestured to his almost untouched salad, “Then why don’t you eat that?”

He sighed, “Jane, it’s rabbit food.”

“Ooh, I am man,” she said in a caveman voice, “Meat is good, make man strong!”

“Watch it,” Thor said, laughing. The conversation between them lulled into an easy silence.

“But I’m going to make you dance, just saying.”

When she said that, Thor felt a strange pang in his chest. The promise he had made it Loki, it was informal, unimportant, but he still found himself more eager for it than for Jane’s. Maybe it was the thrill of a new friend.

__________________

 

Dinner passed by almost in a blur. If not that, all the indistinguishable moments melded together in a mass of time that didn’t matter, that didn’t constitute worthy of recognition. Jane was mostly too absorbed with her visiting friends to interact with Thor, though he didn’t blame her. He picked up a few names through listening in to their conversations. Darcy, it seemed was her best friend. There was also Elsa with an accent or “Foreign Elsa”, and an Emma. Thor thought to refer to them as the e-squad in the future

The man that had announced the beginning of dinner went back onto the stage, tapping the mic, “I’m back!” he said, laughing as if it was actually funny, “Now, for the moment you all have been waiting for, I invite you ladies and gentlemen to join me on the dance floor.” A small applause sprung up among the crowd. The younger attendees scattered about the tables looked at each other expectantly and slowly came in pairs to the center of the room.

“I guess that’s our cue,” Jane said.

Thor rose to his feet, helping Jane up. Like he had seen in romantic comedies or whatever, he linked arms with her and began walking to the floor. He distractedly heard the patter of high heels coming rapidly towards him and then Jane was pulled sharply from where their arms were linked. “What the fuck?” He looked forward and saw that Darcy had swept _his date_ up and was in the process of dragging her onto the dance floor. He stood alone awkwardly for a moment. Despite his lack of partner, he wandered to the gathering crowd.

Loki was still gathered about the rich people he had dinner with, though their conversation seemed to be petering out. Thor stood there, waiting expectantly. His attachment to Loki surprised him. He wasn’t new to making friends, no. The process typically took a span of weeks, days at the most generous. It was weird, they into step easily and it felt refreshing.

Loki looked up from his group, looking around until his eyes finally settled on Thor. He waved briefly. Thor took that as invitation enough to walk over, hands buried in his pockets. Loki started towards him, leaving the crowd he was left in behind. “I’ve been ditched again, apparently,” he said, gesturing over to Jane and Darcy.

“Perhaps you’re very ditchable,” Loki offered, shrugging. He gave Thor a once over. “Frankly, I wouldn’t blame her.”

Thor laughed and rolled his eyes, “Oh since I’m so horrible, I should probably just go; shouldn’t I?” He didn’t make to leave.

“You can’t though. You promised to dance,” Loki said. Around them, no one was dancing asides from the awkward shuffle every here or there, followed by high-pitched laughter. Everyone was waiting to dance, Thor imagined, it just was that no one had started it. He thought to give the honor of party starter to someone else.

Thor felt obligated to keep his promise to Loki. Not because of morals or because he’d go to hell for dishonesty or something. No, he felt like he had some duty to Loki, whatever it might be. His decision was certain, but he thought to make a game out of it all. “Maybe I’m a liar,” he said backpedaling lazily.

“That’s not you,” Loki said confidently, like he knew Thor all throughout childhood and onwards. “I can tell.”

“And what does that make you?” Thor asked quietly.

Loki smiled. “A troublemaker.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> really random, but what would you have ordered for dinner? totally out of the blue but I'm oddly curious. maybe it's the chef in me, i don't know


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> hehe sexy dancing

 

“Well, troublemaker,” Thor said expectantly, “the least you can do is start the dancing.”

Loki raised his hands defensively, “I never said I was a party motivator.” He paused thoughtfully. “Can you twerk?”

Thor slapped his hand to his face, “Oh god.”

“I take that as a ‘no’,” Loki concluded. He shrugged, “Well there goes that idea.” The song _Clint the DJ_ had been playing blended into the start of the next track of his mix. _Because you know I’m all about that bass, ‘bout that bass. No treble._ And there was that laugh again, choked yet lilting.

From around the dance floor most of the young women chattered excitedly in response, Darcy included, Thor noted. Loki grinned and began mouthing along excitedly. The energy of the crowd shifted and the masses slowly roused to dancing. Loki joined along without missing a beat. He was all soft grins and swaying, shifting his weight from foot to foot. “Don’t leave me hanging here, Thor,” Loki said, rushing his sentence to sing along to the next line. _I got that boom boom that all the boys chase, all the right junk in all the right places._ As he sang, Loki pantomimed running his hands along the exaggerated curves of a woman, and then grabbing her ass.

Thor laughed at him outright. He couldn’t think of a single thing about this that wasn’t funny. Not three hour ago, he would’ve imagined this man to be the pinnacle of grace. Instead, he was a tall, beautiful loon that danced like a maniac and pretended to squeeze asses. It was a divine gift in its own special way, it truly was.

Despite his grand enthusiasm and the horribly unfitting song, Loki still looked like a model bopping along to some generic pop song about big booties or bass notes or whatever. Maybe a model wasn’t the proper thing to say. His energy was infectious, and his smile pulled high at his face. Thor began to dance along self-consciously and Loki clapped for him. Thor noted that at this point, most of the floor was filled with people, even other reluctant men like himself. It didn’t really matter. There could be no one else or the entire damn world on the floor. He forgot about Jane and about the drying martini on his shirt. It was like tunnel vision. The only things in the world that mattered were a song about body-love and matching steps with the goonish stranger across from him.

Thor didn’t know how to dance exactly. It was never taught to him formally, and he used to wonder sometimes if anyone ever was. If anything, the process of it all was more like reacting to the music, hoping silently that things don’t look too forced and awkward. Needless to say, it was easier drunk. He was only a quarter of the way there, anyhow.

Loki danced around like he was performing for the masses and Thor realized with sudden clarity why he wanted to be an actor. He was beside himself, face flushed from the exertion of dancing and laughing like freaking moron. Thor guessed the lyrics the best he could, singing along with limited success. Chorus was one of his high school’s requirements for graduating and the fact that he spent most of his time screwing around instead of singing proved then to be more than a little obvious.

“I look like a fucking mess,” Thor yelled over the second verse.

“Don’t worry, we all do,” Loki said with a dismissive wave. He dipped his head down and let it swing to the beat, rising up again and snapping along to the song. He laughed into his hand and looked back to Thor.  Sweat was lightly beading along his brow but he didn’t seem to mind, instead opting to sing out the end of the song, “I’m all about that bass, ‘bout bass. You know you like this this bass.”

Thor applauded him when the song ended. “You’re a lunatic. An absolute lunatic.” The next track started.

Loki held up his finger and shushed him, “Shut up, this is my jam.”

“Rihanna?” Thor asked incredulously.

“ _Rihanna,_ ” Loki repeated in confirmation. He stopped dancing for a moment, “Where Have You Been is a masterpiece.”

Thor scoffed in response and Loki picked up dancing; taunting him it seemed with the words that he was singing along to. Loki’s energy was contagious and Thor joined him in dancing, reminded of his weekends spent clubbing during his years of college before he started dating Jane.

He recalled the warm buzz of the liquor he was too young to legally drink and the heat of the bodies around him. Yes, that’s something he missed, the contact. On the dance floor, everything was fair game, everyone was fair game. People grinded against each other in something that was only a step below fucking. It was thrilling, the way he could fit himself into the spaces of another person’s body, only to leave them at the end of the song, the end of the set, or the end of the night. Some nights he would stumble back to his off-campus housing alone, other nights he would not. Nothing was ever long lasting but it was always fun when it was running its course.

He thought again of the gyrating bodies. He wanted to dance against Loki. It was magnetic, almost. His skin was greedy and it wanted any touch it could get; he found himself dancing sloppily just to steal away any accidental contact it could. He wanted more than that. He wanted to slot their hips together and _move_ for all they were worth. He grimaced.

His thoughts jarred him. He wasn’t gay. At least he didn’t think that he was.

“What’s that constipated look on your face for?” Loki asked as the second verse dropped to the chorus. _Where have you been all my life?_

Thor screwed his brows in confusion, “Constipated look?” _All my life_.

 _Where have you been all my life?_ “Whatever it is, stop worrying about it. I need a dance partner.”

“I thought I already was your dance partner,” Thor said incredulously.

Loki laughed. “Then commit to it.”

_Where have you been all my life?_

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who almost forgot to post? Me. 
> 
> Sorry guys, I've been swamped with shtuff. I shall continue to do my diligence, so continue to enjoy
> 
> love you bunchies


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This update isn't too horribly late, is it? Anyhow, I'll see if getting a chapter up next go-around is possible because of the holidays and all. Anyhow, enjoy, lil potatitos.

“Do you ever get tired?” Thor asked incredulously as Loki danced along to a song that he recognized from the radio. _Latch_ he thought it was called.

Loki closed his eyes as if using them while simultaneously enjoying the music took too much effort. “Of course I do,” he said easily, “however right now is not one of those times.”

Thor rolled his eyes, chuckling, “I’m going to grab a drink before I die out right here.”

Thor expected him to suggest that he come along, but he didn’t instead dancing with a huddle of women. “Be safe,” he said before becoming entirely engulfed in their lady-swarm.

As Thor made his way to the bar, he felt like his entire body was still vibrating with energy. Excitement, maybe. He was thirsty, yes, but he was anxious to get back to Loki, like he couldn’t afford to miss any time away from him. He was still worried about that little spell he had before. It couldn’t be right to think about Loki like that.

When he reached the bar, he saw Darcy standing alone, comfortably nursing a fruity drink.

“Hey there, big guy,” she said, punching Thor’s bicep, “Run yourself ragged back there?”

Thor raised his brows. “Close,” he managed.

She ran her tongue over her teeth thoughtfully, “Who’s that dude you’re dancing with?”

“Loki Laufeyson, just met him tonight,” Thor said as he eyed her cold drink. He waved down the bartender who seemed to be ignoring him.

She pulled a face, “Weird.” The bartender came over, wiping his hands on a dishtowel with an expectant look on his face.

Thor quickly ordered a gin and tonic and looked back to Darcy, “Weird how?”

“I thought you two were,” she said, offering up some weird hand gestures. This went on for long enough that the bartender had enough time to make the drink, bring it over, and stare at Darcy like she was insane. Thor scrunched his brows quizzically. “Together?”

He choked on his drink, spluttering. “I came here with Jane. My girlfriend,” he explained incredulously.

She shrugged, “I mean, there are some of those touchy-feely gays. I thought you maybe were one of them.”

“I’m not gay,” Thor said, though he laughed nonetheless. “Do I give off gay vibes?”

“I mean, you don’t _look_ gay but you _act_ gay,” she offered casually. Thor snorted.

He ran his fingers through his hair, “I’ll remember to take the dildo out of my ass the next time I come out.” He worked through his drink quickly and wished that he had instead asked for a water.

“Sounds like a plan, Stan,” Darcy said, saluting Thor as he made his way back to the dancefloor.

“My name’s Thor,” he corrected, winking.

When he made his way through the abandoned tables and back to the dancefloor, he sought Loki out, looking for that black head of hair that stood slightly above the rest. He was in the middle of the floor, head thrown back in a laugh, neck bared.

“I am thoroughly refreshed,” he said, nudging Loki with his shoulder.

Loki raised a brow, “I bet you envy my stamina,” he said.

“Sure,” Thor said mockingly. “Something like that.”

“You’re a grump, Thor, you really are,” Loki said

Thor fell back into step quickly. “Please,” he said rolling his eyes, “I’m cool. Like, _so_ cool”

“Modest, too,” Loki said with feigned amazement.

The dancing had been going on for about two hours and Loki hadn’t sat out for a minute of it. _Clint the DJ_ seemed to be doing a rather good job with pleasing the crowd. Nevertheless, they were growing tired and _Clint the DJ_ seemed to be sensing this. “Alright, let’s slow things down for the couples on this next track,” he said into a mic, “just like a school dance.”

Thor chewed his lip and knew that he had to dance with Jane. He looked to Loki.

“I needed to take a break anyhow,” Loki said, sighing deeply. It didn’t sound unhappy. He smiled almost mischievously, “Enjoy your dance, Thor.”

“I shall try,” Thor replied, bowing. He was serious.

Loki smiled and turned away, making for the table he was sitting at. Thor found that he almost begrudged having to let him go. The thought shocked him. He was supposed to be happy that he finally had some time to be with Jane. It was all backwards.

Thor felt a tap on his shoulder, looking behind him too see Jane. Jane with her pretty hair and _Lorac Pro_. Seeing her sent a guilty pang through his stomach. He had no reason to not want her to be with him at the given moment. After all, she was smart, funny, kind, and they had been together longer than Thor had been with anyone else.

“Hey stranger,” she said with a small grin.

Thor smiled in response, “Hello hello. Come to dance?” he asked.

“It seems like I didn’t need to force you dance, after all,” she admitted with a theatrical lilt to her voice, “Thor Odinson was thoroughly busting a move.”

He threw his head back in a laugh, “Oh god, how bad was it?” _Clint the DJ_ had already started the song. “Wow,” he noted, “ _I Can’t Help Falling in Love With You_? Odd choice.”

“You ain’t dissin on Elvis are you?” Jane asked with total sincerity. Her enunciation was impeccable.

Thor shook his head, “I ain’t dissin on Elvis, I promise.”

“I’ve taught you well, then,” Jane said with a nod. Thor rolled his eyes. They danced together in silence, easy and comfortable. “I’m sorry that you have to go back to The Foster Palace alone,” she said after a while. She used to refer to her house as The Foster Home until it raised a few too many questions.

“I actually won’t need to,” Thor said with brows lifted gently.

Jane bit her lip in thought, “Hotel?”

“Nope.”

“Motel?”

“Nay.”

“Cardboard box?”

A laugh. “Definitely not.” Thor straightened a bit, “Loki actually offered to let me crash at his place so I took him up on the offer.”

Jane grinned and slapped at his arm, “No way! My boyfriend is going to be, I don’t know, total bros with the rich dude that signs the paychecks of the guys that sign my paychecks. This is unreal.”

“It’s not really that big of a deal,” Thor said with a dismissive laugh.

“Except that it is!” she insisted with wide eyes, “When you can, see what soaps and stuff he has in his bathroom. Or does he have a couple bath _rooms_?”

Thor snorted a laugh, “You’re a nerd.”

“This is like watching Animal Planet, Thor. Excuse me,” she said.

 _“Spontaneous and Embarrassing Gay Tendencies in the Wild”_ Thor mused bitterly to himself.

She shook her head and with that she shook away the topic altogether. “Sorry, got a bit sidetracked there.”

_As the river flows gently to the sea, darling so we go. Some things were meant to be…_

Jane sighed something tired and leaned her head into Thor’s chest. Even in high heels, she was too short to fit herself into the crook of his neck. Thor closed his eyes.

He thought about when they first met in high school. Jane wasn’t the sort of girl he would ever date; that’s what he thought back then. He let out an almost-laugh and continued his lazy steps around the floor. For Prom his senior year, he took his girlfriend at the time, Valerie. She was tall and blonde like him and played for the school’s volleyball team. She was the first person he had sex with, but he never liked her like they way he found that he loved Jane. He wondered if he still liked Jane as much as he did a year ago.

The song faded to an end and Jane lifted her little head from off his lapel. She grimaced at the tan foundation that rubbed off from her face onto Thor’s black jacket and wiped at it awkwardly. “Sorry about that.”

“Hey, it’s fine,” he said and he kissed her cheek because he felt like he had to.

Thor felt a tap on his shoulder and whipped around. It was Darcy.

“Can I have one of those, too?” she asked with a smirk.

Jane groaned, “Hey, Thor. We’ll be around.” She dragged Darcy off despite her protests that she _totally did want a kiss, like seriously._

Thor stood alone and didn’t know whether he should move around or find Loki or just do _something._ He sighed. Loki was fine wherever he was, even if he had that damned millionaire persona on.

He was bored. No, not necessarily _bored,_ just unsatisfied. Unsatisfied with being alone, with being with at a benefit for a dead rich scientist who made “significant contributions” to the scientific community. He just wanted to be with Loki, however weird that sounded. He looked forward to sleeping over a stranger’s house.

“God,” he thought to himself, “this is fucking weird.”

 

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aight, finally at Loki's pad. Is that what the kids call them these days? Anyhow, I hope y'all enjoy~~

“Holy shit, Loki.” Thor said as he walked towards his slumped form in one of those rigid dining chairs.

Loki looked up to Thor, only managing to move his eyes. “I went too hard, Thor. Too hard.”

Thor scoffed, “You don’t say.” He looked Loki over. His hair was rebelling from the slick product he had run through it and his shirt had untucked in random sections from the waistband of his trousers. Chuckling, Thor pulled a chair over and spun it around so that when he finally sat in it, his chest was rested against its back.

“Tell me; am I still managing to maintain the semblance of an important businessman?” Loki asked with concern before pouting, “At least from afar?”

“Well,” Thor said sucking a breath in through his closed teeth. He leaned back, closing one eye, and then the other, and then squinting before deciding, “Eh, sure.” Loki frowned. “Your hair’s a bit fucked up, though.”

Loki sighed and smoothed his palm over the top of his head, “That’s great.” They sat in companionable silence for a while, Thor fiddling with his feet before Loki straightened. “Do you recall how I said that I wasn’t tired?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I’m tired now.”

“I’m sorry about that.”

“No, it’s fine. Really.”

Thor laughed. “I honestly hope it is. Anyway, this fucking benefit is almost over.”

“Thank the fucking lord,” Loki said, massaging his brow. He sat up and adjusted his trousers, “All I want is to go into my own home, get out of these stuffy clothes and have a cup of tea.”

Loki gave Thor a face when he started laughing again. “That was so English of you.”

“I’ll have you know I went to Hogwarts,” Loki said with a mischievous smile.

“Were you friends with Harry Potter?” Thor asked with mild amusement.

Loki nodded with feigned enthusiasm. “Oh, we were _best mates_. The Queen would join us two for tea and we would always be _right chuffed_ when she brought us _biscuits_ to eat.” He nodded once more, as if solidifying the truth of it all.

“Oh is that right?” Thor said.

“Yeah,” Loki confirmed, “My favorite times were always when Ringo Fucking Starr joined us, as well. But enough about me, how is flying on the back of the bald eagle with George Washington? That must be a wonderful time.”

Thor elbowed him lightly in the arm. “I can’t disclose that to a Brit.”

“I see that they don’t teach manners in the colonies,” Loki said and Thor elbowed him again.

Thor smiled lightly without much reason at all and looked around the room to pass the time. Everyone had cleared the dance floor for the most part with only a few people lingering behind, talking instead of dancing. _Clint the DJ,_ too had disappeared for the night. His eyes scanned about for Jane but it seemed that she had already left. He shrugged, unsure of how to feel.

Loki was the first one to speak. “I think I’m about ready to leave. Would you prefer cab or flying broomstick?”

_“Shut up.”_

Loki had said that it was only a five-minute drive from the event to his apartment. Thor had half-expected, well maybe quarter-expected him to call up his chauffeur or whatever but he hailed a cab instead.

Thor noticed that Loki, too sat with his legs spread out wide, a habit that his Jane always told him to quit. The space of them both crowded the back seat, but Thor could hardly care. His shoes cramped his feet and the suit restricted his motion, touching knees with the man beside him was hardly bothersome at all. Loki spoke up to direct the driver where to go, but asides from that, the cab was quiet, allowing Thor to eye the storefronts and shops that zoomed through the view of the window. He snorted lightly when they passed a gentlemen’s club, prompting Loki to look over.

“Is anything the matter?” he asked with genuine concern.

Thor shook his head, laughing, “Nah, just a strip club.”

“Easily amused, are we?”

“Yeah, that’s why I stuck around you,” Thor replied. He knocked his knee against Loki’s.

Loki hit his knee back harder, “I’m glad we’re almost at my flat so I can make you sleep on my doorstep.”

“I’d love to see you make me,” Thor said with one of his deep chuckles.

The driver cleared his throat. “Is this spot?” he asked in his broken English, nodding towards an apartment complex.

“Yes, that’d be it. If you could take us right to the curb,” Loki said before turning to Thor, “While I pay, you can walk into the lobby and wait for me there.”

The building itself was made entirely of glass, reflecting the orange glow of the city lights around it. Hardly any of the windows were lit up that late at night, but the lobby that Loki had mentioned was still bright.

Thor hopped out of the cab when it reached the curb as Loki leaned forward to the cabbie to pay. He walked under the red awning printed with _The Kipling_ across its front. He pushed through the revolving door and was greeted by soft music playing through the lobby the smell of pine. The room was rather big, but was decorated in such a way that it seemed small and intimate, with deep, warm colors and a fireplace surrounded by soft-looking chairs. _“Fuck,”_ Thor thought to himself, _“This looks like a fucking resort.”_

He felt a tap on the back of his shoulder. It was Loki, “Pardon that,” he said walking to the set elevators located past the front desk. He smiled almost reassuringly, “This way.”

As they passed, the small, red-headed woman at the front desk looked up from her computer, smiling at Loki, “Welcome back, Mr. Laufeyson.”

“Hello, Doris,” he said to her. Doris, Thor noticed continued to smile at Loki even after he had looked away. Also, she had giant tits. That too. Thor frowned lightly as he picked up his pace to get to Loki who had already reached the elevators.

“Sorry about the rush,” Loki said as they waited for the elevator. He explained, “It’s just this damned suit. If I have to sit in it for another second, I’ll kill someone.”

Thor snorted a breath and raised his hands in resignation. “Don’t kill me.”  He thought for a moment before adding in a whisper, “I don’t know, kill Doris.”

Loki bent over in a hushed laugh. _“Thor_ ,” he said from underneath that hand that shielded his mouth, “She is a lovely woman.”

“One could argue that I’m lovelier, actually,” Thor said with a shrug. There was a small ding from the elevator doors which then opened after a pause.

Loki eyed him knowingly, “It’s because she has bigger boobs than you do.”

“They are not _boobs_ ,” Thor said holding his mantit, “They’re _pecs_.”

“Whatever you need to tell yourself,” Loki said with a wink as he walked into the elevator.

Thor followed Loki into the silver doors where he then pulled a face and flipped him off.

 


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't plan upon posting last week, and I thought I let y'all know, however I guess I forgot to. This late update for this week was kinda unplanned, though. SORRY GUYS IVE BEEN BUSY BLUBUBUBUB
> 
> Anyhow, I had more to write for this chapter, but I just wanted to get something up for you guys (:

Loki stood with hands pressed into his pockets, tapping his foot gently to the metered beats of the jazz coming from the speaker located in one of the top corners of the elevator.

“Elevator music enthusiast, I see,” Thor noted with a brow-raised nod.

Loki huffed an amused breath, “You wouldn’t believe my _elevator music record collection_ I have in my room.”

Thor chuckled, imagining Loki sitting poshly with a glass of chilled white wine perched in his hand as he nodded along to the seventh consecutive record of generic jazz music. He eyed the marker above the door that indicated what floor they were on. It resembled the top half of a clock, the singular hand floating smoothly to a printed number reading the 20th, 21st, 22nd, 23rd floor. The elevator dipped to a stop and the doors opened, exposing a well-lit hallway.

It was warmly decorated with deep browns in a way that made it seem like a home instead of an apartment building. At the end of the hall there was a full-length window that showed the light-spotted city buildings.

“I can’t tell you how excited I am to take these shoes off,” Loki explained as he walked to one of the three doors in the entire hall. He reached in his pockets and produced a set of keys and quickly unlocked the door, ushering Thor in.

The apartment shared the same general style with the rest of the building, but was designed to be slightly more open and modern. Loki deposited his keys in the small bowl that sat on the table set near the door. Thor watched as he toed off his shoes and kicked them aside. “Home sweet home,” he said, loosening his tie.

“Yeah,” Thor agreed. They continued walking into the main living room area and Loki continued to deposit various articles of clothing on his various articles of leather furniture, his jacket, his belt.

“Are you fine with sweatpants?” Loki asked as ran his fingers through the top of his hair, mussing up the neat slick it was styled into. “Pardon my eagerness to get out of this damn suit.”

Thor toed Loki’s belt that rested on his shag carpet as it missed the chair it was thrown at. “I can tell,” he said with a wry smile. “But yeah,” he continued, “Sweats are fine. Frankly I’d take footie pajamas over dress pants right now.”

“And a good man you are for it,” Loki said, nudging him with his shoulder. “Here,” he said walking past the glass coffee table towards what Thor could only assume was his bedroom, “Come with me and you can choose what you want to wear.” Thor followed an easy distance behind him, subtly taking in the expanse of the apartment. It was huge. He didn’t even want to think how much it cost. He noted an open kitchen, several other rooms, a bathroom, and a closet as he followed Loki through the hallway to his room.

Loki flicked on the the lights to his room and made his way past his ridiculously large bed to a lacquered wooden dresser. Thor admittedly would pay good money to make his ass at home on top of that thick, white duvet. He knelt down and yanked open the bottom drawer, pulling out a tee-shirt and pair of sweats for himself before scooting aside to give Thor a good view of  the drawer’s contents.

“I have no worries that my pants will fit you,” Loki explained, “However the shirts are an entirely different story.” He paused, adding, “What gym do you live in by the way?”

“Envy’s an ugly color on you,” Thor said and he dropped into a squat. He hummed and gingerly pulled out a grey pair of sweatpants.

Loki nodded, “Good choice,” he said examining the pants like they were fine wine. “I bought them at,” he paused for dramatic effect, “Target?”

Thor rolled his eyes and took the shirt that sat atop the others, unwilling to mess up the entire stack. It was a band tee, almost threadbare. “You like elevator music and Neutral Milk Hotel?” he asked, inspecting the peeling cover art on the shirt’s chest.

“Learn quickly that I am an enigma,” Loki said mock-haughtily. He stood up and winced as his knees cracked. “A very old enigma.”

Thor rose and toed the drawer close. “Ancient, basically.”

Loki looked at him with curiosity etched into his brows. “What’s your last name?”

“Odinson,” Thor answered although it came out more as a question.

“Thank you,” he said before adding, “Watch it, Odinson.”

Thor raised his hands in surrender and followed Loki out of the room.

“Are there any movies that you’ve been meaning to watch?” Loki asked as he padded to his kitchen. Thor felt like something akin to a dog just tracking him around. He watched as Loki turned on the stove, heating up a glass tea kettle of water and then rifling through a cookie-filled cabinet before settling on Walker’s shortbread. He placed the package on top of the granite countertop and produced two matching mugs from a different cabinet.

Thor shrugged, “Nah, not really. The most recent movie I’ve watched was The Great Gatsby.”

“That came out at least a year ago,” Loki snorted, tossing a teabag into each cup. “Do you take milk,” he asked easily, distracted.

“Uh,” Thor began, “sure?”

“As an Englishman, you lack of preference for tea disgusts me. Therefore I am choosing the movie,” Loki said curtly before breaking into his dumb smile. He plucked a shortbread from the plastic packaging and bit it with bared teeth. “These are orgasmic.”

“Doubt it,” Thor said. “Aren’t they basically just flour, butter, and sugar?”

Loki shrugged, “Was that supposed to sound unappealing?” He picked out another cookie and thrust it out to Thor. “Become a believer.”

Thor took the cookie between his thumb and forefinger, studying it. Loki raised his brows expectantly. With a shrug, Thor took a troublingly large bite out of it and chewed. “You might be onto something,” he decided after a moment.

Loki rocked back with his wild laugh. “You act like no one’s eaten a shortbread before.” He finished off his cookie, dipping the tips of his finger into his mouth to pick up any lingering crumbs. “They’re even better in tea.”

The kettle whistled and Thor and Loki both looked over to it, and then to each other. Thor was the first to speak up. “You’ve got my attention with those goddamn cookies,” he said.

 

 


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ooh snap, we've reached and surpasses the 10k mark. "If I take one more step, it'll be the farthest away from home I've ever been."
> 
> but like seriously I've never written this much for one singular work before, so yay!
> 
> anyhow, I hope you're all enjoying it thus far. I suck so bad, nothing too particularly homosexual has taken place yet and I fear such a trend will continue.
> 
> lo siento
> 
> still love you all

“Interstellar was supposed to be good,” Loki said as he scrolled through the list of new releases on his idiotically large TV screen, sprawled out on one side of the brown leather sofa. Thor sat comfortably at the other end.

“The one with Sandra Bullock?” Thor asked. He paused, “No, wait. That was Gravity.” He leaned forward and dunked a shortbread into his tea and bit into it. He hummed softly in appreciation.  

Loki snorted. “You’re welcome for that, by the way,” he said with a teasing voice, “I’ve never seen anyone appreciate biscuits that much.”

Thor flicked a crumb at Loki that hit him below the eye. “Then you haven’t been around the right people then, huh?”

“Donnie Darko?” Loki said quickly.

“What?”

“Donnie Darko. The movie.”

“Do I want to watch it?” Thor asked. Loki nodded. Thor shook his head in fake admonishment, “You need to actually use sentences instead of barking random crap at me”

Loki rolled his eyes and nudged Thor’s teacup a few inches out of his reach with his sock-covered toe. “Do you want to watch it?” he asked.

“I don’t know. What’s it even about?” Thor asked with a small shrug.

Loki straightened. “It’s one of my favorite movies. I think it came out when I was in year ten,” he explained. He clucked his tongue in thought, “It’s almost supernatural, really. You must’ve seen something from it at one time or another. It’s about this kid with psychological issues and teenage angst and this weird fucking rabbit man.”

Thor pulled an ugly face, one that would always make Jane laugh. “Seems fucking weird.”

“It’s because it is weird,” Loki countered with an equally ugly face. The TV played a commercial for some clothing company while the two stared at each other with dumb grins plastered on their faces. Strangers kissing for the first time, that’s what it was about. “So, what do you say?”

“Sure, why not?” Thor replied.

__________________________

“Holy crap is that Drew Barrymore?” Thor asked, looking at the woman crossing the screen.

Loki nodded. “Yep. She’s still not hot.” He watched as she entered the high school building and grimaced. “Isn’t she  a covergirl?”

Thor tried to recall the ads from Jane’s beauty magazines. “I think so?” He studied her face. “Ironic, I guess.”

When Donnie came back on screen listening to teacher-Barrymore’s lecture about Graham Greene, Loki cleared his throat, “All the homo in the world, little Jake Gyllenhaal was pretty damn hot,” he admitted with a wave of his hand.

Thor threw his head back in a throaty laugh. “I don’t swing that way but I have to agree.” Loki stiffened but laughed nevertheless, if not a bit weaker than he could manage.

“He looks so young. I can hardly believe we were ever like that,” Loki said, massaging his brow.

“We’re still young,” Thor insisted despite the deep-set wrinkles that lined his forehead at the age of 28. “I’m very hip and groovy.”

Loki looks over to him with a grin spread on his face. “Yeah, are you?”

“Totally.” Thor asserts. “I wasn’t this cool when I was in high school. I think I evolve into a cooler version of myself with age.”

“You must’ve been a nerd in high school,” Loki said mock-sardonically. He snorted imagining the big burly Thor next to him in too-short khakis, suspenders, and broken glasses.

Thor ran his fingers through his hair with a shrug, “I can’t confirm or deny.” He looked back to the TV. Donnie was meeting with his therapist. “What were you then? My money’s on,” he paused, “brooding, misunderstood punk.”

Loki almost gasped. “Do I really give off those vibes? Truly?” He considered the accusation. “I was relatively normal. Well, I did theater, thus only relatively normal.” Thor was looking at him with a stupid grin on his face. “What?”

“You were a theater geek,” Thor said.

Loki shook his head. “I was not.”

“You were,” Thor insisted. “You were a theater geek.”

“Stop!” Loki laughed, whipping a throw pillow at Thor. It hit him square in the face with a satisfying whump and fell to the floor.

Thor threw a pillow back in response, only managing to clip Loki’s leg. “Theater geek,” he said, rushing up and hiding behind a chair.

“At least I’m not an oaf like you,” Loki said, grabbing ahold of a few other pillows. He toed around his rug and flung another at Thor, but Thor managed to scuttle out of the way. Like a big doofus.

From the other side of the room, Thor scoffed. “Did you just can me an oaf?”

“Uh, yeah.”

The disregarded movie continued on, a girl being bullied and responding with, “Chut up.”

“You suck so bad,” Thor muttered, picking up a pillow on the floor and running to attack Loki who stood by the sofa. He swung the pillow, knocking Loki straight in the chest who fell backwards onto the couch.

Loki fought back futilely, choking on his own laughter. “Big oaf,” he said as Thor wailed on him.

“You’re a dumbass,” Thor laughed. Loki’s hair was splayed over the pillow he was thrown on, face reddened with a mixture of amusement and exertion.

“You’re in my pants!” Loki hissed, blocking his face. “That means you have to stop.”

Thor sighed and flopped down onto the sofa right next to Loki. “Alright, fine.”

“You’re a child, Thor,” Loki admonished. It came out gentler than he meant it to.

Thor tried to catch his breath. “The proper term is ‘youthful’,” he corrected. He stared at the screen. “Wait, what the fuck happened?”

Loki stared at him with confusion. The movie. “Oh. Uh that creepy bunny guy, Frank is in his mirror.”

“I can see that, Loki,” Thor said calmly.

“Pardon your sass,” Loki responded just as calm.

They shared a moment of silence. Silence was a strong word. Their heavy breathing left over from their pillow fight as well as the movie made the silence into more of a lull in conversation.

“I’m not going to lie,” Loki said, breaking that gentle not-silence, “That took a lot out of me. I am getting old.”

Thor grinned. “Psh, there’s nothing wrong with that.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> force a friend to read this ~~~ 
> 
> just kidding but thatd be cool


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A very small experimentation of smut. Pardon my general lack of skill. YAY I MADE IT TO CHAPTER 10

Thor sat looking at the movie, looking being the operative word. His attention sat somewhere else, a couple more inches towards Loki, to be exact. He bit his lip. He was attracted to a dude, to Loki. A dull ache started up in his temples, but he didn’t want to draw attention to himself by rubbing at it. God. He had a girlfriend.

This wasn’t okay. Loki didn’t think about him like that. Thor felt like was violating him somehow.

“You know that song, Mad World?” Loki asked from beside him.

Thor grunted. “Huh?”

Loki continued, “Mad World, you know, the original was by Tears for Fears?”

“Oh yeah,” Thor said, shaking himself from his thoughts. “What about it?”

“Have you heard the slow, sadder version of it?” Loki said, “I think it was this movie that made it popular.”

Thor chewed his tongue in thought. “Gary Jules, yeah?”

“Righto, my good sir,” Loki said with a faker, more exaggerated version of his accent.

The conversation settled with an almost awkward lull between them. The tension hung too heavy, too damp in the air. Thor feared that Loki had somehow found him out. The silence rubbed at him and he wanted to break it if by any means at all.

“You know what’s sort of funny?” he asked eventually.

Loki perked up and gave him a funny look, “What?”

“When I first saw you, I thought you were all serious and sophisticated,” Thor replied.

“I was under the impression that I still am serious and sophisticated,” Loki responded with his occasional dry humor, “Well, if the situation calls for it.”

“Hardly,” Thor insisted. The tension diffused a bit with the change of subject, or the adoption of one.

“I don’t know what I thought of you,” Loki began. He drew up his leg and sat with his ankles crossed. The feeling in his foot began to grow tingly and numb. He disregarded it. He shrugged, “You looked lost.”

Thor raised his brow incredulously, “Lost?”

“Like a puppy,” Loki said, laughing.

“Hey, you were standing alone at the bar, too,” Thor said in a way that was meant to be defensive, but came out teasing instead.

Loki nodded in surrender. "While that is true," he said, “I think I at least looked like I knew what dimension I was in.”

Thor thought back to when he was sitting at the bar, before Loki spoke to him. “A different dimension?” He asked. Loki nodded and Thor couldn’t help but throw his head back and laugh in spite of himself. “Are you always that perceptive?”

Apparently not, Loki thought. Instead, he shrugged. “I suppose it depends on the situation,” he offered before looking back to the TV. “You’re entirely missing the movie, you know?”

“Does that bother you?” Thor asked.

“A bit.”

Thor looked in the opposite direction and grinned.

___________________

He was back at school in his dormitory. The band posters hung on his wall were different, but it was the same standard-issue desk and the same shitty bed he was on. Even in the dark supplied only by the unnatural glow of the lights outside, the room was painfully recognizable. Someone else was on the bed with him. Oh fuck. He recognized that blonde head of hair.

“Have you ever done this before?” Thor huffed as he tugged Loki’s button-up above his head. The mattress whined under the weight of them kneeling in the wrinkled covers. He rushed towards him, pulling him up in a messy kiss.

Loki pulled away for a moment and shook his head feverishly, “No, have you?” He pressed his lips along Thor’s jaw and down his neck, clawing at the smooth meat above his hips.

“No,” he breathed. Loki stopped.

“Really?” he asked almost incredulously. Thor stared at him, panting.

“No,” he repeated. His brows screwed in confusion, “Why are you surprised?”

Loki looked him up and down. “Because you’re hot,” he explained and Thor was on him again. “So hot,” he muttered under the attention of Thor’s mouth. He gasped. Thor had sunk his teeth into the flesh of Loki’s neck, not hard enough to break skin but it was still substantial enough to sting. “You boob,” he admonished.

“Is that what I am?” Thor laughed. He pressed himself forward into Loki, pushing him backwards onto the bed. It was a lovely sight, he noted, looking down at Loki’s face which was bracketed by his own hands.

Loki sighed as Thor bent down to kiss him. Thor’s tongue slipped against his own with a sense of lazy urgency. “Yeah,” he breathed, “that’s what you are.” He was already more than half hard in his uniform trousers. They dug painfully into his cock, his hips, his legs. “Get these fucking pants off of me,” he whined, rolling his hips.

“And if I don’t?” Thor asked. He was already half-naked, sitting there only in his unbuttoned jeans, the band and the front of his underwear revealed. Loki sighed in appreciation. Thor was practically a teenage wet-dream. His skin was still smooth with only a light dusting of blonde hair along his arms, down his navel to his crotch. Age hadn’t yet carved definition into his muscles, but he still looked strong, wild, and handsome.

It was on a whim, and Loki reached up to rub Thor’s cock through his pants. “You don’t want to know,” he replied with a grin. Thor groaned

“Alright, alright,” he conceded, voice rough. He sat back on his haunches and slowly unzipped the fly to Loki’s trousers. “Is that a gun in your pants or are you just happy to see me?” Thor asked, looking up with a stupid grin on his face. There was something so young in his eyes that set Loki’s heart to aching.

“You’re an idiot,” he whispered softly, kicking Thor in the chest.

Thor chuckled. “Yes,” he agreed. Almost timidly, he crawled forward until he was once again hovering over Loki. There it was again, that youngness. “I want you so bad,” he whispered. Loki closed his eyes and surrendered to the warm pressure of Thor’s body against him.

“Yes,” he murmured in response, “yes.”

The solid presence on top of him was gone as if it was never there to begin with. He opened his eyes and Thor was nowhere in sight. He was no longer in his old dormitory, but instead lying on the catwalk of the school’s theater.

________________________

He woke up with a start.

His head, he noticed was resting uncomfortably close to Thor’s shoulder. He sighed in relief when he found that Thor had fallen asleep as well, the weak light of the credits illuminating his resting face. As carefully as he could, Loki extracted himself from Thor’s side and tiptoed away from him, far away from him to collect himself.

“I need help,” Loki whispered to himself. He looked back to Thor’s slumped figure on his sofa. During the night, it always gets a bit cold in the apartment. Quietly, he toed back to grab a couple of throw blankets from the basket where they sat folded and untouched.

He carried them over, laying one over Thor’s lap, two over his shoulders, and another two by his side in the case that he would wake up in search for some more.

Thor stirred slightly and Loki froze in his place. False alarm, it seemed. Exhaling with relief, he walked slowly to his room and to his bed which seemed too large and too empty.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this satisfied some of your, uh, urges. I was actually going to use the tiny sort-of smut section for an entirely different PWP fic, but I was like nah, let's not do that. So here it is. Loki is a conflicted man. So is Thor. I really don't know where I'm going with this.


End file.
